The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage-Chapter 361

6.

As usual, Seong started his day with his morning routine.

He went for a run, took a shower, and had a satisfying breakfast.

During breakfast, his sister Mina once again told him to hurry up and move to Region Ten. As always, Seong deflected with a vague “I’ll think about it” and logged into Eternal World without delay.

As soon as he connected ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) and summoned his vassals—

Seong immediately sensed something unusual in the air.

All of his summoned vassals looked visibly agitated and angry, and Seong tilted his head at the sight.

‘What’s this? Did they fight in the Underworld?’

But no, that couldn’t be right.

It wasn’t just his vassals down there—Helena was with them too. There was no way a fight could’ve broken out.

Since conditions didn’t allow for conflict in the first place, Seong was puzzled—until Helena marched over, looking deeply offended.

“Can you believe there are some real insolent bastards out there?”

“Insolent bastards?”

Where was that coming from?

Seong looked at her in confusion and asked again.

Rather than answer directly, Helena nodded toward someone—and Veladrina stepped forward.

—“May I respectfully deliver my report, Your Majesty?”

Seong had gotten used to Veladrina’s ultra-formal speech by now. He simply nodded.

Veladrina continued.

—“A familiar I left behind at the Masked Lord’s tomb has activated, as we suspected it might. Someone has tracked us and is now in pursuit.”

“Hm.”

He didn’t bother asking who.

It was obvious.

Rieskan Kingdom, of course.

Even without thinking hard, Seong could easily figure out who was behind it.

He simply wanted to know the specifics, so he looked at Veladrina.

She didn’t make him wait.

—“An entire knight order has come. Among them are several information operatives capable of managing intelligence. At daybreak, they began moving toward our position, but I’ve temporarily misdirected them—they’re currently lost.”

“A full knight order, huh.”

Seong repeated the words with a grin.

He didn’t know which order yet, but lately, every knight order he encountered had their own unique sword style. That meant only one thing:

This could be interesting.

Especially with his new power—Polymask Lord.

It was the awakened version of the Masked Lord, obtained by unlocking its true potential.

While its abilities resembled the original Masked Lord—like sealing someone’s power into a mask and allowing others to use it—what had changed was the power scale.

‘The old Masked Lord could absorb around 60% of a target’s power. The Polymask Lord can copy up to 80%, right?’

And sealing someone’s power into a mask didn’t actually take it away from them.

But what made the Polymask Lord different—

‘If the copied target dies, their full power—100%—is embedded in the mask.’

Unfortunately, this didn’t work on players.

But with NPCs? It worked beautifully.

This meant that if someone with lord-class skills granted permission to the Polymask Lord, Seong could gain those abilities—and if they died, he’d become their successor.

That’s why this approaching knight order was so intriguing to Seong.

While he was pondering this, Veladrina added something even more exciting.

—“The knight captain is believed to be a lord-class knight. Estimated level exceeds 300.”

That was unusually high for someone appearing in Region Eight.

Which only made Seong nod with anticipation.

He’d been planning to level up or warm up a bit before fighting Deathbone Dragon Belzarach Drakxion anyway—

But to have someone come to him?

Sounded like a fun fight.

“Where are they now?” he asked with a casual smile.

Veladrina bowed her head and answered, clearly pleased.

—“Shall I lure them here?”

Seong nodded like it was exactly the answer he’d hoped for, and Helena added with glee:

“We really ought to teach those insolent fools a lesson.”

At her words, every one of Seong’s vassals nodded.

And Seong? He just sat back and waited—clearly looking forward to the battle ahead.

7.

Reindel Silverain had always been considered a prodigy—a knight without peer since childhood.

He had inherited the Mirrorblade Arts, passed down through the Silverain bloodline, and rose through the ranks with no opposition from his family.

Thanks to that, he became a knight captain before even reaching his mid-twenties.

His skill was unmatched. His looks, exceptional. Who could possibly stop him?

But Reindel was also a man of grand ambition. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Though he served loyally under the Sword Saint, what he truly desired was to join the famed Solar Knight Order—the one the Sword Saint personally acknowledged as his strongest weapon.

Only those at the level of lords or lord-class knights could belong.

That’s why Reindel was deadly serious about this mission.

It wasn’t just any assignment—it was a direct order from the Sword Saint himself.

It had to go perfectly.

And now, the one who had taken the Masked Lord was none other than that infuriating Overlord.

Could there be a more perfect opportunity?

A once-in-a-lifetime chance.

‘I will capture him.’

He’d already read the reports on the Overlord’s vassals.

The Overlord himself was said to be immensely powerful too.

But so what?

As long as his knights kept the vassals busy—even if they were all annihilated—Reindel believed he could still take the Overlord down himself.

With that plan in mind, he began tracking—but rage flared up inside him.

‘No tracks.’

He had tried to find the Overlord’s trail himself instead of relying on the scouts, but nothing showed.

He’d considered following the sound of battle if it broke out—and just then—

Rumble...

A tremor rolled through the ground.

It came from far away but spread all the way to his location.

Reindel smiled.

They were moving again.

He grinned as he turned to the other knights.

“Head northeast.”

His voice was low, almost inaudible.

Yet the knight order moved like lightning.

The front line quickly pushed forward, clearing a path, and Reindel followed at full gallop.

Yes, it was a hasty charge—but it didn’t matter.

There was a gap in strength between them and the Overlord’s group.

‘We know where they are. They don’t know we’re coming.’

A perfect moment for a surprise attack.

Reindel grinned, feeling the battle already tilting in his favor.

How far had they ridden?

The tremors grew stronger. Distant at first—now right beneath them.

BOOM—!!!

KRRRRRNG—!!!

Loud explosions rocked the area as black clouds surged into the sky.

A massive wave of pressure spread from the source, shaking the earth.

A monster’s head exploded under the shockwave, and its giant body collapsed.

Then, Reindel finally laid eyes on his target—Seong—and his vassals.

So did the knight order.

They charged in first, using shields and lances to scatter the vassals and isolate Seong.

The vassals dodged, pulling back from Seong, while the knights quickly formed teams to hold them off.

Seong now stood alone.

Reindel drew his sword and charged.

Thundrummm—!!!

His warhorse thundered across the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

Mounted combat—when a knight was at their peak.

Seong moved to respond—

But Reindel scoffed.

‘Too late.’

He wasn’t foolish enough to think he could end this in one blow.

But this opening strike would give him the upper hand.

He swung his sword—and the Mirrorblade Arts bloomed.

As if reflecting all light, his sword shimmered and refracted beams in prism-like forms.

Then, like a magical mirror, the gleaming blade came slashing down toward Seong.

But instead of panicking, Seong smiled.

“Ah, so you’re the one who reflects.”

Reindel blinked—thrown off for a moment by the strange comment—but didn’t answer.

No need.

His sword would nullify any defense. It reflected all attacks—made counters meaningless.

That sword swung to distort the world itself—

But in that instant, Seong’s hand glowed with a strange light, his blade mirroring an alien, surreal reflection of the world—

And Reindel’s eyes flew wide open.

Seong now wore the Mask of Reflection and whispered:

“Is this how it’s done?”

The clash of mirrored powers.

Forces reflected, returned, and reversed.

Light shattered and bent. Worlds mirrored and collapsed into one another.

Both were blown back from the shockwave.

Realizing his horse would die if he kept riding it, Reindel released the mount and landed directly, his boots gouging long trenches into the dirt.

SCREEEEECH—!!!

SHHHHRAAA—!!!

Seong was no exception—he too was pushed back, his legs digging deep into the ground, leaving even deeper ruts.

He chuckled at the sight.

Copying 80% power wasn’t a lie.

“Polymask Lord is seriously insane.”

Hearing that, Reindel’s eyebrows shot up.

The Overlord truly was the Overlord.

That he could already wield a newly acquired power this well was impressive.

Realizing he had to get serious, Reindel regripped his sword and declared:

“I’ll kill you and extract at least three lords’ worth of power.”

To which Seong, no longer using honorifics, replied bluntly:

“Won’t be that easy.”

Grinning, Seong raised his blade again—

And Reindel charged.